Odour Control Trends

Odour is often a by-product of the decomposition of organic (living) matter. When living cells die, they attract bacteria, which break down the dead tissue so it can be "recycled." This natural process, known as decomposition, produces unpleasant smelling gases as an interim by-product.

Various approaches are used to manage odourous by-products; the most common are:

1. Odour neutralization
2. Bacteria/Enzymes
3. Masking agents

Odour Neutralization

This approach is based on natural, essential oils derived from plant extracts. These extracts accelerate the natural process of odour neutralization by instantly combining with odorous molecules.

Bacteria/Enzymes

When bacteria/enzymes are used to manage odour, they are sprayed into problem areas to digest the organic material. Bacteria and enzymes indirectly tackle the problem through bacteria ingesting and liquefying the waste. It typically requires 24-48 hours and ideal temperature and humidity for bacterial spores to grow and ingest the odourous material.

Masking Agents

Masking agents simply add a "pleasant" scent to overcome the odour problem. However, masking agents do not eliminate odours or the material causing the odour.

The Trend in Odour Management

1. Third party testing and proven applications have made essential oils based, odour neutralization the solution of choice. It has become the standard in residential, retail/consumer, multi-tenant and industrial markets due to its unmatched performance and environmentally friendly/safe characteristics. Natural, essential oils based solutions are food grade, making them completely safe near human activity, and eliminate the need for masking agents. This approach immediately eliminates bacteria, disinfects/sanitizes and eliminates flying insects that are attracted to the odourous material.
   
   
2. Bacteria and enzymes are becoming less prevalent because the trend is toward anti-bacteria, rather than perpetuating bacteria growth. This approach was popular in consumer products in the late 80's and early 90's however, bacteria based solutions are no longer available in retail/consumer applications because of this trend.
   
   Using this approach, bacteria and enzymes are sprayed into problem area to digest and liquefy organics. Bacteria spores can spread beyond the treatment environment - chutes and leaking garbage bins are ideal conduits for spreading bacteria - and will react with all food and plant organics. This is why bacteria is a widely accepted approach in contained areas, such as wastewater digesters and septic tanks, where there are strict process controls and long digestion times of 7-10 days are acceptable.
   
   Bacteria based solutions cannot sanitize, and can't be used in the presence of sanitizing products and are limited to areas where no human contact exists because bacteria will react to eyes, mouths, or open sores. Bacteria and enzymes typically require 24-48 hours and ideal temperature and humidity for organisms to grow. Therefore, masking agents are often used to overcome delayed effect and potential for poor or no growth.
   
   
3. Masking agents simply add a "pleasant" odour to mask the problem - this increases odour intensity by adding one odour on-top of another. Masking agents do not eliminate odour contaminants and are often chemical based.